Copyright © 1986-1998 Andy Slack. All Rights Reserved.
Although historians date the beginning of the Terran Empire from 2350 AD, it did not use that name for itself until a century later, initially referring to itself as the Coalition, a name probably developed by journalists looking for a shorthand way to describe the concerted effort against the Kafers.
By the close of the Second Kafer War in 2340, humanity felt backed into a corner -- there were Kafers at the end of the French Arm, Vilani at the end of the Chinese Arm, and the American Arm was for all practical purposes a dead end pending some miraculous breakthrough in FTL drive technology.
The popular feelings of the time are perhaps best captured in Noguchi's classic bronze sculpture, Never Again, which depicts a screaming Kafer raising its weapon high over a human woman collapsed on the ground, shielding a terrified infant with her body. Later, this was regarded in some circles as a propaganda piece, and it is true the Coalition funded it; but Noguchi always claimed he had sculpted from memory, and records prove he served as a soldier on Aurore. Copies of the sculpture are to be found in the main reception area of every Terran Empire starport; it is in stark contrast to the main artistic movement of the period, which drew its inspiration from Eber or Sung works, or from the rural forms produced by frontier colonists.
Through a hundred years of warfare and expansion, which saw the Kafer Genocide and the numerous Interstellar Wars with the Vilani, Coalition humanity developed a myth of Terran supremacy, a belief that Terran humans were somehow superior to other races, whose tyrannical cultures deserved to be conquered. The Kafer Genocide solidified this conviction, according to some historians as a means of relieving Terrans of any guilt they might otherwise have felt at wiping out an entire species. Kafers lived on in legend as bogeymen, and the discovery of a surviving Kafer enclave is a recurring staple of adventure fiction.
At first this myth was fuelled by a series of Coalition successes; later, the psychological effects on both Terrans and Vilani contributed to further Coalition victories. Since the Coalition's best commanders were given anagathics to maintain their usefulness in the field, they survived well beyond the initial campaigns; this further increased the mystique of elite Terran units, and the popular support enjoyed by these officers is widely credited with their eventual elevation to the Imperial nobility.
In hindsight, the Terran success is largely attributable to Pentapod and Ylii support against the Kafers, and the general enfeeblement of the Vilani empire, whose gigantic imperial buildings, poverty-stricken masses, and archaic, artificial art forms point to a moribund culture.
Up to the mid-25th century, Terrans still saw themselves as members of their various nations and corporations, owing allegiance to their military leaders and colonial governors as individuals, and in a vague, abstract way to humanity as a whole. However, the political reforms of the 2440s and 2450s formalised and ratified the de facto state of affairs: An Imperial state, ruled by an hereditary nobility, most of whom had free access to anagathic drugs and a lifespan far in excess of that enjoyed by the ephemeral masses. The longer they stayed in power, the more experienced they became, and thus the more adept they were at retaining control. The continued presence of an external enemy united Terrans until they had come to accept this state of affairs as normal - in fact, there is some evidence that towards the end of the Interstellar Wars hostilities continued primarily because of the political needs of the Terran nobility.
The politics of the Terran Empire are mandated by the nobility's widespread use of anagathic drugs, and are characterised by expansionism, conservatism, and balkanisation.
Terrorist organisations in the Empire are dedicated to overthrowing or assassinating the immortal nobility, and differ mainly in the alternative form of government they propose should they succeed.
In most times and places, the Empire is firm but fair, although non-humans are seen as second-class citizens at best, and a potential threat to be eliminated at worst. However, the treatment a traveller receives depends on the whims and vagaries of the local nobility, so this is a dangerous generalisation.
The Imperial logo is a yellow sun - symbolising Sol - on a black field, with a starship flying across it from left to right. The ship is the characteristic folded-arrowhead design of streamlined Imperial vessels, and is trailed by two 'whiz lines'. The basic logo sometimes has an additional symbol added to identify a particular unit; for example, shoulder patches worn by personnel of the Maat Subsector Fleet have a stylised ostrich plume superimposed on the standard symbol.
The Imperial Terran Space Navy has two main roles. Firstly, to defend the realm against external aggression; and secondly, to act as a 'cultural bridge', unifying the many and diverse worlds of the Imperium. Naval uniforms are midnight black with gold piping and white hats. Sector Fleets are equipped to tech level 15 levels, and used as strike or reaction forces; subsector fleets are equipped to tech level 11-12 levels, and used for local security and piracy suppression. Piracy is normally a covert disagreement between nobles or shipping lines.
The Imperial Marines are primarily intended to deter rebels or invaders from action against the Empire. This limits them mainly to spaceborne missions, as what happens within 10 diameters of a world's surface is the planetary ruler's problem - unless he specifically asks for help, or rebels. Marines wear 'smart uniforms', able to take on a variety of camouflage patterns or the maroon and light blue of parade dress. Marine units may be light infantry or heavy infantry; light infantry are equipped to tech level 11-12 standards (advanced combat rifles or gauss rifles and combat armour), and heavy infantry are equipped to tech level 15 standards (powered armour and plasma guns). Marine operations are characterised by speed and overwhelming firepower, and only authorised in the case of a threat to the realm. Exactly what constitutes a threat to the realm is left to the discretion of the Subsector and Sector Dukes. Marines are also taught a 'battle language' which is suited to discussing tactical problems and easily understood when shouted down a radio amid static and gunfire; this is actually a debased form of the Kafer language.
The Imperial Terran Scout Service is essentially an advance guard for the empire's expansion; exploration and contact are carried out mainly to identify suitable new fiefs. Officially the dress uniform is a black flight jacket and calf-length black boots worn over dark blue trousers or flight suits - scouts refer to this as 'the black and blue', and half-humourously maintain that it symbolises the bruises they take in the Empire's name. In practice, scouts wear whatever they feel like and equip themselves as they see fit. They have a long-standing and bitter rivalry with the Marines, which is regularly discussed with boots and fists in starport bars. The ITSS also houses the Empire's primary intelligence organisation, the Covert Survey Bureau.
'The Army' is a general term applied to various planetary defence units and household troops. The quality of their manpower, equipment, leadership and tactics various immensely from world to world.
The Empire's Merchant Marine is made up of a bewildering variety of shipping lines of all types and sizes. Imperial policy encourages trade as keeping the individual fiefs dependent on trade with each other makes it harder for them to rebel.
Within 10 diameters of a world's surface, its local laws prevail and local police have jurisdiction. Local laws are essentially at the whim of the local nobility.
Beyond this distance, Imperial law prevails, and is enforced by the Imperial military. In Traveller terms this is equivalent to law level 3. Imperial law also prevails inside every starport in the Empire; this is so that there can be no doubt as to which laws apply at any point during a passenger's trip.
Imperial law and its enforcement are aimed at serious crimes such as murder or rebellion, and both deter others and prevent repeat offences by making a hideous example of the perpetrator. The Imperial Inspectorate or 'Earth Police' are charged with enforcing Imperial law, and their sweeping powers to dispense instant justice make their green, gold and black uniforms feared and grudgingly respected throughout the Empire. The Inspectorate has its own military starships and Marine forces, and is a second Navy in all but name, answering directly to the Emperor rather than to local Sector Dukes as does the Imperial Navy proper.
Despite their contempt for the Vilani, the increasingly aged and conservative Imperial nobility restrict technology much as the Vilani did in their heyday. At first this was indirect and probably unconscious - nobles in their second and third centuries lacked enthusiasm for rapid change, and simply did not fund it. By the early 26th century it was direct and conscious; each layer of Imperial nobility had access only to specific and rigidly defined technology. (Referee: In Traveller game terms, the maximum tech level a noble has access to is his Social Standing - e.g., a Marquis with Social Standing 13 has access to technology up to and including tech level 13, but may not employ better devices. The ephemeral proletariat are limited to tech level 10 at best, and their planetary ruler might well impose further limits.)
Aggression, willpower, and anagathics can only take a people so far. Conquering a Vilani empire hundreds of times the size of the former Coalition territories did not automatically imbue the Terrans with the ability to administer it. Without a credible external enemy to bind it together, the Terran empire fragmented into a myriad of successor states, each ruled by a handful of noble families.
One such state was the Solomani Confederation, also known as the Terran Confederation; this 'pocket empire' was the Aslan Hierate's main opponent in the Aslan Border Wars of the 3400s, and has been rightly described as "neither Terran nor a Confederation".
As these states squabbled amongst themselves and fragmented still further, interstellar civilisation collapsed; it did not rise again until 4518 AD, with the inauguration of the Third Imperium.